Doctors are health care providers, who practice in the profession of medicine. Historically, they could often be found on the streets of many European cities, wearing black robes and possessing a mask with a beak-like shape.

During the Renaissance period, doctors provided medical opinions and diagnoses, as well as selling vials of medicine in varying concentrations.[1][2]

In the Ottoman Empire, the attire of doctors differed, often wearing dark colored robes with tall, almost conical hats.[3]

Contents

Background

The clothing of doctors was standard throughout those in their profession, particularly after the occurrence of the Black Death, one of the deadliest pandemics in human history. This plague peaked in Europe during the 14th century, and was said to have killed 30–60% percent of Europe's population. Subsequent to it, the world's overall population dropped from an estimated 450 million to between 350 and 375 million at the start of the 15th century.

To protect themselves from this pandemic, doctors dressed in a long black cloak covered with a coating of wax, along with a very primitive beak-shaped plague mask, although not all doctors chose to wear it. Within this Medico Della Peste mask, there were usually flower petals, burning incense or aromatic herbs to rid of bad smells, since it was believed that disease was transmitted through "bad air". The eyes of the mask were also made out of glass, as it was believed that sicknesses could be caught through face-to-face contact with patients, or by touching infected objects.[1][2]

The specific mask that doctors wore during the Renaissance period was called the Maschera Dello Speziale, where speziale referred to someone who sold every kind of medicinal herb. This mask was also occasionally worn by civilians during Venice's Carnevale.[1]

Medicine

Doctors also sold medicine (for 75ƒ each), which was a healing item that could be carried in portable pouches. These were identified as smelling salts that served mainly as painkillers, and the number of medicine vials that Ezio could carry at one time increased when a larger medicine pouch was purchased from a tailor's shop.[1]

Poison was useful for discreet assassinations and for the creation of distractions, as it briefly caused victims to go berserk, flailing their weapons around and drawing the attention of nearby guards.[1]

Trivia

Ezio could not normally harm doctors, but the first doctor encountered in Assassin's Creed II (with Federico), was the only one that could be attacked and killed, but only with blades; doing so did not alert guards, and did not cause desynchronization. Also, when killed, the doctor would rise back up again, seemingly unaffected.

When Ezio engaged in a fight with guards in the presence of a doctor, he would often kneel before Ezio and beg him not to kill him.

On occasion, blacksmiths would also be able to restore some health when they repaired damaged armor.

In the novel Assassin's Creed: Renaissance, the doctor that Federico introduced to Ezio was their family doctor, Dottore Ceresa. Also, instead of having a small stand like other doctors in Assassin's Creed II, he operated in an actual store.

The doctor located in Monteriggioni was the only one to own a store in Assassin's Creed II. By the time that Desmond Miles arrived in the town in 2012, the store had been converted into a tavern.

In Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Ezio could complete a shop quest for the doctor on Tiber Island, which would upgrade the poison sold by doctors to Fast Poison, enabling Ezio's victims to become berserk immediately after it had entered their blood stream.

In Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, when leaving the doctor's stand, he might say "Auf Wiedersehen! That's French, you know". However, this is German for "Goodbye".

In the novelization of Brotherhood, the doctor who treated Pietro Rossi's cantarella poisoning was named Brunelleschi, and he claimed to have created a "pretty effective antidote" for the poison, due to having accrued first-hand experience.

Doctors wear the typical Plague doctor costume with beaked mask. However, this is anachronistic as the "beak doctor" costume was invented in the 17th century.